Bank of Marin Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank of Marin raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,769 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Bank of Marin’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $3.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $95.03. 2,722,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,848,791. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $109.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.